Richard Dawkins had his posts deleted calling Algerian boxer Imane Khelif a ‘man’—as she files harassment complaint

Dawkins tweeted that Olympic boxer Imane Khelif is a man ‘masquerading’ as a woman.

By Edward Era Barbacena 

After Algerian boxer Imane Khelif won her first Olympic match earlier this month, the internet debated her gender, given the boxer was previously disqualified from another championship due to alleged “elevated levels of testosterone.”

Though Khelif is a biological woman, many accused her of secretly competing as either a transgender woman or a biological man.

As she continued in the Games, the online harassment continued. Richard Dawkins, an esteemed British biologist, and one of many vocal figures on the matter, disparaged Khelif for being a “man” who beat up on female boxers during official Olympic matches.

After the Games ended, Khelif filed a legal complaint in France concerning the “misogynist, racist and sexist” harassment she experienced through viral transphobic tweets.

As reported by the Associated Press, French prosecutors will now decide whether to investigate the claims in Khelif’s complaint.

Dawkins posted an inflammatory tweet about Khelif and Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-Ting.

“Two men, masquerading as women, are being allowed to box against real women in the Olympics,” Dawkins tweeted on July 29.

The URL now returns a message noting the post has been deleted

Dawkins made other posts that indirectly referenced the controversy and which are still up.

On Aug. 8, he tweeted a photo of a motorcyclist riding with cyclists with the caption “biker who identifies as cyclist wins Tour de France.”

He also retweeted a similar post about a cheetah “who identifies as a man” winning a gold medal over human runners.

And during the controversy, Dawkins claimed he was being censored for his views.

On Aug. 2, Dawkins tweeted that Facebook “deleted” his account “for no apparent reason.”